PASEDENA, Calif. — October isn’t usually a big month for football recruiting, but someone forgot to give Kyle Whittingham and his staff the memo. The Utes recently secured a commit from Brandon Cox, giving them four commits for the month and 19 for the 2013 signing class.

Cox is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound quarterback prospect from Pasedena High School in Southern California. He had originally committed to Arizona but changed his commitment to Utah after taking an official visit there last week.

“I talked to Arizona coaches and they agreed that I should take a look at other schools and consider other offers I had,” said Cox. “I never recommitted from Arizona, but sort of just opened up my recruitment and Utah — they just won me over with everything they have to offer there.”

Cox also had offers from Iowa State, Maryland and Utah State, among others. He is rated as a three-star prospect by both rivals and scout.com and is ranked 16th nationally at his position by rivals.

Cox was very impressed with the football atmosphere at Utah in a big game against USC. Although the Utes lost the game, he liked how competitive the team was and believes they’re just a few pieces short of competing for a Pac-12 championship.

“Utah always has a great defense, and that’s a defense that can compete with anyone, but on offense I think they’re just a few pieces away of having an offense that can compete with anyone as well,” observed Cox. “I think I’m one of those pieces they need, and I love the offense. It’s a perfect fit for me.”

Cox has built a very strong relationship with offensive coordinator Brian Johnson who is stocking up on some very good quarterback talent here of late. After securing top talent such as Travis Wilson and Chase Hansen, Johnson went out and attracted more top talent in Connor Manning along with Cox.

Some quarterback recruits wouldn’t sign with a school with so much young talent at the position, but Cox believes other factors are more important.

“I don’t look at or shy away from players I’ll have to compete with — that’s not who I am,” said Cox. “I know that Travis Wilson is playing great as a freshman and that Connor (Manning) is a great prospect, but to be the best, you need to compete against the best. I’m not afraid of competitiion — I welcome it.”

Cox was attracted to the friendly atmosphere at Utah among other social and academic factors, but says that he committed to Utah primarily for football reasons.

“Utah is a stable program with coaches that I know will be there and are completely committed to making Utah a great program,” said Cox. “In my meetings with coach Johnson and coach Whittingham, I could see their passion and how dedicated they are in taking Utah to the top. I want to be part of that and I think it’s a perfect system for me and a perfect program for me.”

Popular Comments

Whether he plays QB, receiver, or secondary for Whittingham seems like we got
another incredible athlete, and you can never have too many of those.

Pretty exciting pickup! Great job Whittinghman and Johson. Like the kid
says, a few more
More..

9:44 a.m. Oct. 17, 2012

Top comment

SoonerUte

Salt Lake City, UT

That moves the Utes up to #39 on Rivals.

CAUTION: With the Cougars at
#45 that means Rivals is no longer a valid reference. Clearly, there is
something wrong with Rivals' ranking system.

11:48 a.m. Oct. 17, 2012

Top comment

Utah'95

FPO, AE

Welcome to the Utes, Brandon. We are seeing that college and NFL teams are
moving toward more athletic QBs. Utah State's and UCLA's wins against
Utah came largely as a result of the contributions of their mobile, athletic
quarterbacks.More..

Brandon Gurney covers recruiting, high school sports, and BYU athletics for the Deseret News. Previously, he worked with scout.com for eight years, covering BYU, with an emphasis on recruit coverage. He joined the Deseret more ..